Unbroken
by Lunae Saltatoriae
Summary: Deputy Carla Mack returns home to Hope County after years away to care for her father. Following his death, the citizens of Hope County find themselves fighting a losing battle against the Project at Eden's Gate. John has ideas in mind for the Deputy and she will have to fight against her own sins to remain unbroken.
1. Prologue

Prologue:

It took very little for Hope County to be overrun with cultists, vying to be one of Joseph Seed's "family". Both willing and unwilling, Joseph had promised his followers protection from "The Collapse". The cult "Project at Eden's Gate", was known for drugs, coercion, manipulation or intimation to gain its members. It didn't matter the reason why they had confessed and pledged themselves to the father... They had betrayed the good, working class citizens of Hope county. They had become known simply as the "Peggies", followers of the Project of Eden's Gate.

The abundance of military grade firearms and lax gun laws led to every single one of the crazed maniacs having a semi-automatic rifle in their arms.

It wasn't exactly a surprise that when the Deputy and the other officers took down Joseph Seed that he managed to slip away and capture each of the officers who had planned to arrest him.

The Deputy was the only one not captured following the attempted arrest.

* * *

Officer Mack, or Carla Mack, was barely twenty-five. Her time in Hope County's police force had been short. She had transferred back to Montana as her father has become bedridden and needed a carer. He stubbornly wouldn't let Carla put her career on hold to care for him, but since his car accident he could barely walk on a good day. She made do with what she could by preparing meals and cleaning around the place.

Carla supposed that she was happy he died barely a week before the cult began to target people. She didn't want him to see what his hometown had become mere days after.

They bought out the farms and the radio tower, and then people started going missing. It was months before the police became aware the cult had become an issue, mostly because crimes that were reported weren't being relayed to the officers. Someone in administration had been falsifying and withholding reports. They had begun investigating the false and lost reports, but they had been given the order to arrest Joseph and that put things on hold.

She was briefed on the Seed family, and particularly Joseph. Their target for the arrest.

They were in a black, six-seated, heavily armoured helicopter specifically designed for extreme circumstances. Although, no amount of armour made Carla feel safe as they flew past the giant statue of Joseph or the "Father".

"Fuck, there he is." She heard Deputy Hudson say, her voice in awe at the towering figure.

"Jesus." The Marshall had ironically enough had compared the sick man to his idol.

She gripped the arrest warrant in her hands, she was shaking and had almost dropped the court sealed and signed piece of paper half a dozen times.

When they flew in, only Joseph was on their radar. He was being arrested for suspicion of kidnapping with intent of harm. None of his subordinates had committed any noteworthy crimes. Not yet, anyway.

She and all the other officers were completely caught off-guard by the followers devotion.

After a quick call to dispatch, they hopped out of the helicopter and felt every pair of eyes in the compound on them.

The walk to the church couldn't have felt any longer. They heard the distinct sound of rifles loading all around them as they walked through the wooden church doors.

Inside the church waited innumerable cultists suddenly becoming quiet as they saw who entered. Joseph stood, talking down to his followers, who too quietened. Behind Joseph were his siblings, Jacob, Faith and lastly, John.

John had grown a beard since she last saw him and it suited him, even though Carla would never admit it. John's baby blue eyes looked at Carla, he smiled at her. She scowled in return, but before she could blink the room filled with the fury of Joseph's angry followers.

They put their hands on their guns and his followers raised their guns in defence. It wasn't a simple situation by any means. It could take one itchy trigger finger to cut through the tension like a knife through butter.

However, Joseph calmed his followers down. "We knew this moment would come. We've prepared for it. Go… Go. God will not let them take me."

Joseph was a rather well-built man, like his brother who she had the displeasure of knowing all too well. She tried to not let her eyes linger on the word 'LUST' scarred into his lower abdomen. Various other tattoos marred his chest.

"Rookie, Cuff this son of a bitch." The Marshall ordered.

Seed put his hands out in front of him in surrender, his eyes rested on Carla's. "God will not let you take me." He smiled, ever so slightly. "Well, Deputy?" Behind his yellow bulky glasses, his dark eyes mocked her.

She looked to John who stood behind his brother, her eyes full of distrust. She squinted at him and turned to the Marshall, making her decision.

With an affirmative nod from her fellow officers, she put the cuffs on Seed's wrists. Seeming too comfortable given the situation, Carla should have realised then the mistake they had made.

If they thought the church was bad, outside was far worse. Guns now pointed at them from every direction. The officers were scared, though they dare not show it on their faces. She led Joseph towards the helicopter, he was the only one calm in the entire compound.

It all went downhill from there.

Carla tried to keep her face calm. They had just a few more feet to walk when the cultists broke out in rage.

It was hard to pinpoint the moment that things went from 'just peachy' to 'completely fucked' on this arrest. But if Carla had to guess it was when one the cultists threw themselves at the blades of the helicopter.

That sparked the shitfest of questionable and exceedingly annoying fuckups that continued to plague Carla in the months following.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

-Carla-

Carla woke from the same nightmare she had been having for months. That damn helicopter. She promised herself that she would be piloting any helicopter that she entered after that incident.

She had successfully managed to gain a foothold for the resistance by liberating captured citizens and outposts before they submitted to the cult.

It had amazed her how quickly Joseph gained control of Hope County, but he had done what most people too vain or uninterested could not. He listened.

He listened to the church every week. He started out being a simple man who came into the church with very little to say. He seemingly came from nowhere then simply listened to people's fears and their hopes. Little did the townspeople know, he had been watching them for quite some time.

He then began to engage in secret meetings with a select few. Then he sought out people who wanted something in excess. It wouldn't have been hard for him to find the town's drug addicts, heroin was a popular choice in Hope County. It stimulated one's brain in such a way that relieved one's stresses. Bliss was similar, both induce hallucinations and users become very submissive as a result. Bliss became the gateway into the cult for many.

He needn't have looked any further for bloodthirsty individuals either. Half the town is so inbred that the police had stated publicly that certain individuals cannot marry.

This led to many nights of Carla and her fellow officers shutting down illegal shotgun weddings at a moment's notice.

Carla decided now was the time to move. Carla grabbed her sidearm and scoped rifle and headed out of the bunker.

She was wary of the sky, the cultist plane that flies around the area had a target slapped on her back and she wasn't taking any chances.

John Seed, Joseph Seed's younger brother and the Father's leader in the south, had marked her. He wasn't a large man, not literally anyway. He was smaller than his brother but he still managed to make a big of an impact on Hope County.

She had known John for a while, in fact, they had lived on the same street. He was a lawyer that Joseph had spoken with in those first meetings.

He had a good relationship with Carla's Father as his lawyer and his friend. He seemed saddened by her father's death but didn't come to his funeral.

She supposed that he was too busy with cult fanatics that week. It angered her that he meant so much to her father and he didn't bother paying his respects, despite her feelings towards him.

He, however, had a somewhat strained relationship with Carla as she had often tried to convince her father that he was swindling him. He was barely thirty by the time Carla moved back, although he didn't look any different to how she remembered.

John, wouldn't admit it to her or her father, but he was knowingly taking advantage of her father in his fragile state.

After making sure it was clear, she walked out into the forest. She had the intention of assisting a woman at the local cemetery, deeply in John's territory.

It was no accident that she had pissed off John, he seemed to be more than happy chasing after her. After all, she had attempted to arrest his brother and had blown up many silos filled with Bliss. In retaliation, he taunted her over the radio by describing the torture being done to Deputy Hudson because of her.

* * *

-John-

He was bored. Yes, he and his 'friends' had taken Hope County barely a month ago, but he had grown bored of the endless list of sinners Father had asked him to make confess. He still wanted people to join the Father's church, and he wanted people to follow him. But, he found that being a 'Herald' had become boring.

Sure, the odd rebellion in the region got his blood pumping for a bloody fight, but he had grown tired of the locals blowing up a silo here and there expecting him to engage with them. But, he found the only thing that made him happy anymore was marring his prisoners with their sins.

It wasn't until he heard on the radio that the Deputy... No, Carla (She wasn't really a Junior Deputy anymore, not since he and his siblings had dealt with her colleagues), was the one who had been liberating the outposts in his area and stealing from their caches. Had he perked up at all?

Yes, it seemed.

Now he was positively giddy with excitement, Carla is in John's eyes the adult version of a crush. She was Richard's only daughter and from the day they met, he knew he had to have her. Richard spoke to him often about how she was doing and where she was.

She wasn't fond of him, although he wasn't surprised, her father had been unintentionally overpaying him for years, but neither had bothered fixing the payments. Richard was too proud and too stubborn of a man to bother changing anything and why would John argue with him?

When she came back to town after a few years she had filled out in all the regions. She was a budding sixteen-year-old when she left to move to her mother's. Now she was a full-grown woman. She had completed her training and moved back to look after Richard.

He didn't exactly regret cutting the brake line on Richard's car, causing his injuries. He had wrestled with the idea that the man had suffered needlessly for months onward only for the Father to set his qualms to rest. He wasn't surprised when his friend had been found dead in his bed by his daughter.

After hearing from the radio yet another of his outposts had been taken. He put a target on her back.

He wanted to see if he could sway her to his side. But the Father had warned him of his wrathful approach to his subordinates lead them to fear him like his brother Jacob, rather than love him like his 'sister' Faith. Jacob's followers had no love for him but did follow him in exchange for a healthy dose of violence and gore. Although Faith was called 'the Siren', her "Angels" didn't nearly love her nearly as much as the Bliss she gave them.

John's flock were a bunch of willing cult members, mostly. Those who weren't loyal before had gained a large amount of loyalty for him when he executed the escaping cultists with a snap of his fingers.

"We found her". A scratchy voice alerted him through the ham radio on his dresser.

He let his lips press into a tight, mirthful smile. "Collect her, kill whoever is with her if you have to, they are of no importance to me. Praise be to the Father."

He had pulled on his fitted pinstriped vest over his dark blue dress shirt and put the cross around his neck. Finally, he grabbed a leather knee length leather coat. He had to arrange a certain deputy to collect.

He smiled brightly, it was all coming together for him.

* * *

-Carla-

Her eyes narrowed as the plane had started to circle her and her new best friend (she was quiet adept at using a rifle against the cult) Grace Armstrong's location. Cars painted with the black cross of the cult began to arrive and she pulled out her sniper. She found cover in the cemetery and she pulled out the 50-caliber sniper and whipped around and aimed down the sight. She aimed for the head of the driver and made the shot.

The car swerved off the road and rolled over, crushing all inside. Next, she took out the tires of the next incoming car and forced it to pull over prematurely. She shot the driver and the passenger when they got out.

The plane suddenly came crashing down into the farm fields nearby and she looked over her dark-skinned friend and she gave her a silent salute.

"Deputy... Carla." Carla's radio crackled. "I'd suggest that unless you are alone, that you part company with your little friends. Because God has no need for them, only your confession. I will begin to target your friends if you are not brought to me soon."

Carla swore.

* * *

Carla had defended Hope's County for a while now, and she had become tired of hiding and capturing outposts and she felt that rather than really making an impact, her rebellion was more annoying the Seed Family. This didn't feel like a war, it felt like they were children who were disobeying the cult and were merely playing at fighting rather than spilling blood.

The only member of the Seed family she had pissed off was John, and even then, she was sure that the reason John had an interest in her is that of the rivalry they had for Richard's attention. Carla knew John from when she was young, very young. In fact, not only had he become her father's lawyer, he attended the same boarding school as her.

She remembered when he was a young, scruffy brown-haired youth in a foster home down the street. Now he was the biggest monster in the valley.

Carla had made sure not to bring her friends with her as per John's instruction, against the wills of her friends she had chosen to continue causing chaos for the cult on her own for a while.

It didn't take long after she blew up a silo and saved some captives did she get hit with a bliss bullet.

She thought, before she was to endure any horrors that she would suffer, she should properly say goodbye to her father. She had barely spoke as his coffin was lowered into the ground. She was too sad to say words about his over his open casket.

"I love you Dad." Carla whispered to the polished marble tombstone when she felt the small bullet tear through her.

She didn't know what to expect for the drug, other than intense hallucinations and a feeling of, well, 'bliss'. She did know however the burning feeling of a bullet carving through her.

She was sure that she killed quite a few of them before the lights went out. She started to see the white light as she fell to the ground, then she went down with a thump.

* * *

-John-

He knew that she was a fighter, so when he heard that she took down half a dozen fully grown men when she'd been hit with the Bliss bullet he wasn't surprised. He was expecting such a fight.

He wasn't a strong man when he had a desk job, but now he was a fit man. He picked her up without a problem. She was very light, and she likely hadn't been eating all that well following her colleague's capture.

He loaded her into the truck with a few others. His original plan had been to take her and them to his house, to do the confessions there. However, Joseph had asked that each person captured must be baptized before they can confess their sins. For the sins are not forgiven until they are reborn.

They had taken them to a lake and began the baptisms. They had begun with the others and his men were bringing Carla over. She had begun to wake up after her head went underwater.

John wasn't fazed at all when she spat on his cultists and demanded to know where she was.

Although, she was silent when he eyes fell on his.

He smirked at her. Her eyes were still so hateful of him. After all, it was he that she can blame for everything. 'Nothing's changed there', John thought.

"You." She said simply.

"Yes, me." John replied, his tone mocking.

"You...!" She screamed then pulled out of his followers hold to make a split-second decision attack on John.

John easily grabbed her wrists in her drugged state and he sneered at her. "Now, this one... She needs to be bathed again... She isn't clean." He smirked at her as he pushed her down, under the water. She struggled in his hands and thrashed about. John's smile became wider and wider as he thought about all the pain and misery she had inflicted on him.

"John!" The Father's voice called to him, pulling him out of his daze and he pulled her out of the water. "Let me speak to her".

"Yes, Father." John submitted. He didn't want to give Carla to Joseph but it seemed he had little choice.

The girl was barely conscious as John guided her over to the Father. "Carla, was it?" He looked to John, who nodded in response. The Father put her hands on either side of Carla's face in an attempt to get her to focus, "You will confess your sins. You will confess. And God will save you, child."

She looked at John, her eyes seething at him and she looked at the Father, her eyes were unreadable.

Then she fell. John was quick to catch her and hold her in a bridal style.

"John." The Father said as John began to walk back with her to the car. "I will keep my promise to you."

John stopped but did not look back at the Father as he nodded. His eyes were glued to the girl in his arms.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

-Carla-

Carla was in a van with two other captives and she was seething. John Seed. Had they just performed some backyard baptism on her and now they had expected her to confess? She had nothing to confess as far as she was concerned. Her slate was clean and even if the cult managed to find something to pin her with, how would they prove it?

She was sitting next to two other captives. One had her face in her hands, a small cry escaped her every now and then. The other captive, sat forward, his eyes not leaving the road. She sat the middle of the two.

Her eyes were drilling into the back of John's head, through the cage that separated the front passenger and driver from the rest of the van.

"Still haven't worked out how to drive then John?" She observed as he sat in the front passenger seat.

"Carla, you needn't worry about what I need to learn. You should be more concerned with your own lessons. Sins are something to learn from."

"So, you're still as greedy as you used to be then?" She bit back. "Or is it that you covet another's possessions?"

John's smile was impish, "Avarice is not my sin." He said. The truck pulled into Fall's end. "We're here. Best be thinking on your own sin if you wish to confess."

They were pulled out of the van, each of them were lined up behind the other captives, except Carla.

John had grabbed onto her shoulders and pulled out his revolver and held it to her head as she was walking. She felt fear to her bones. The cold metal of the gun was icy against her hot skin.

He had brought her forth in front of a large congregation. His followers whispered and frowned at Carla. Her likeness was scattered around Hope County on posters, but not until that moment did they know exactly what she looked like. Carla guessed that there would be an update to the posters soon, she wasn't happy with the likeness of her nose anyway.

"Children of Falls End, I give you the Deputy!" He was met with the cheers of his followers. "The only one of the resistance that has still have some fight left in her." John smirked. "Now we have her, there is nothing that can harm Eden's Gate!" He was showing her off to the crowd, she was the spoils of war. She never hated anyone more than in that moment.

Carla elbowed him and made a run for it, barely making it a few feet before she was trapped by the crowd. "Please! Please, I can help you. Just let me go!" She tried to appeal to them. She then heard a loud sound like a crack of thunder.

A gun fired behind her.

The bullet lodged itself in her right leg. It felt like her whole leg was burning with white hot pain. She fell to the ground, gripping her leg in pain. "I'll fucking kill you John!" She promised him between gasps of immense pain.

John walked forward and pulled her to stand on her legs while she let out a screech of pain. "Deputy… Deputy… Deputy, did you think I took any chances? This whole town, County even… Belongs to us. Your home, your body, your soul… Now belongs to the Father… Or your sins will destroy you." He put his hand out, his smile betraying the seriousness in his eyes. "Say yes, and we offer our resources and shelter when the great collapse comes."

"And.." She struggled, "and i-if I ref-refuse?" She panted out through the pain.

His smile dropped clean from his face, like he became a different person. Gone was the charismatic lawyer who won cases with a smile. He had become the monster that slew the cult's enemies. "Those who do not say yes will be left out when the collapse happens." He smirked again. "Perhaps I should demonstrate the power of yes." John threatened. He pointed out the captives that she sat next to. He pulled them forth out of the crowd. "Say yes." A gun was levelled at the man's head.

"yes…!" The man shouted immediately.

John rolled his eyes in exasperation, "No not you!"

He kicked his legs out making him fall to the ground. He turned to Carla. "I will give you one chance to spare him." John announced, his voice was loud as she tried to not meet the captive's eyes.

* * *

-John-

John looked to Carla, her eyes wide and her matted hair clinging with sweat to her face. She was beautiful. He didn't know if he felt bad about her leg, but he decided it was necessary for her to see the light. He gestured to his hand, making an expression of a clock ticking as he watched her.

"Oh Carla, so prideful… Is his life more meaningful to you than a simple word?" He mocked. He looked to the man, his eyes were closed, prepared for death.

She didn't move, her eyes flashing between John and the man.

She does think she was better than them John thought, his eyes on Carla. "Very well." He gestured his soldiers behind him to bring forth the girl.

"Please… Let me go…" The girl pleaded to him to free her. But before she could utter more, he shot her clean through the eyes.

Carla's mouth hung open, tears began to spill out of her eyes, but not a sound was uttered from her mouth. She lowered her head in shame.

"I told you… I told you what would happen if you didn't say yes." He mocked her as he lifted her head to meet her eyes. He brought the gun up to fire at the other man. "How do you expect me to find you worthy to save when you yourself will not save others?" He gestured at the man. "I give you another chance."

"…es." She whispered through tears, her eyes brimming over.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite hear that." He smirked at her. He wanted everyone to hear that the great deputy, the one they hear late at night on the radio calling out to help. The one that will ride in and save them… To fall to her knees and _beg._

"Yes." She said louder, her eyes now determined and full of hate.

John smiled. One way to boost morale was for her followers to see her submit. The hero of Hope County.

* * *

-Carla-

Since Falls End, John had taken her away and was driving her somewhere. She sat next to him, her hands banded together with itchy rope.

They mostly sat in silence, and other than the occasional chatter on the comms, the car was silent. She looked to John. Her captor.

"I don't understand." John said suddenly, his face angling to meet hers. "Why did you choose to fight us. You couldn't have won you know."

She hadn't thought about the fight really, she just wanted to get her friends back, and perhaps kill John for good measure. "I didn't -still don't really-, believe Joseph that he is 'saving' everyone. Not when he chooses to torture his people."

"Joseph is preparing us for when the great collapse comes." John said, almost dumbly. Carla watched his face closely, he honestly believed that he could be saved if his god rained down hell on them all. "You think I'm an idiot for trusting in the word of one man. Your police trained mind is probably trying to see if I am lying to you. I'm not."

She didn't see anything to indicate that he was lying to her. His eyes never left her own, his mouth didn't twitch into a smile. He looked right into her forest green eyes. "No, you're not."

"And yet you still don't believe me."

"I can't. Not when I know the things you've done to this town." She turned her head away from him. Her eyes looking out into the darkness outside.

She looked at the distance, she saw in the distance, along the road a bit, resting nestled on a river was a ranch the size of the town hall and church combined! She didn't know such a big residence existed out of town.

"Do you like it?" John smirked at her open-mouthed expression. "You're going to get very familiar with it."

She decided to say nothing. Her eyes looking to the redwood ranch that loomed before her.

He drove into an expensive garage and she remained still as he got out and walked around to her side. She looked around for something quickly to hit him with and escape. Her eyes landed on the gun he left in the side pocket. _No, he can't be that stupid… Surely._

She lunged over and twisted to bend to grab the 9mm holstered in the car door. She managed to brush her fingers on it…

He opened the door and was met with the barrel of a gun.

"I told you that I would kill you." She put his resolve to the test. Let him beg for his life.

He merely raised an eyebrow and then he cracked a smile, then a laugh turned into manic laughter. "Oh _Deputy_! _Please spare me!"_ He mocked her. "The gun's not loaded Carla. I'm not an idiot, although…" He smiled, he then pulled the gun out of her hands. "I don't care for your behaviour. You know, if you had my parents, ohhhh… You would've been smacked senseless for your behaviour this evening." He laughed as he ripped her out of the car seat. He dragged her by the rope, causing the rope to rub her wrists raw.

"My parents wouldn't have particularly liked your behaviour this evening either." She muttered, barely audibly.

"What, my dear?" John called at the girl over his shoulder as he led her through the large mansion.

"Nothing." She spat out.

* * *

-John-

It wouldn't have surprised John if Carla made it through the police force at all at the rate she walked through the house. After three individual escape attempts, she had finally given in and allowed herself to be directed.

"I hope you come to terms with your stay, Carlie dear." John smirked, he pulled her into a bedroom. "Because this is where you'll be staying until Joseph decides what to do with you." He smiled. "Now, I have to grab dinner. Be a good girl, and sit quietly on the bed and wait." His smile turned somewhat sinister. "Or I'll do something we'll both regret." He let the threat hang in the air.

She nodded. Her hands still tied in front of her, she sat on the bed. He nodded swiftly and walked out of the room.

He went down into the kitchen to see if he could find something to eat, and maybe a drink or two. After the day he had, he suspected that she would need to be a bit inebriated to even talk to him.

He opened the kitchen. He tried not to notice his siblings sitting down at the table in the kitchen. Their eyes following his every step, except for his eldest brother Jacob, who stood against his benchtop playing with a large serrated knife. "So, the Deputy… You caught the cub? I had my hunters search for weeks to find her, but you stumble upon her like she was waiting to be caught?" Jacob scoffed. "You know she disassembled all of my animal traps in the region and left false trails behind her… How did _you_ catch her?"

"You don't know Carla obviously." John smirked and mocked his brother. To be better at hunting someone than a born hunter like Jacob was satisfying. She left a bunch of flowers on her father's tombstone. The smooth black marble engraved with the name 'Richard Mark', 'Loving father'. He assigned a few cult members to watch the church closely. "She was grieving her father, and I had his grave watched. I knew she was still grieving him." His face fell with every word spoken.

"Perhaps she should be in my region, Father?" Faith's eyes shone with the bubbliness of bliss. "I am sure I could guide her far better than John." Faith smiled and held Joseph's hands.

"No, Faith, Jacob…" Joseph calmly said, "She will stay with John." Both Faith and Jacob opened their mouths in protest. "Silence… Jacob, Faith… The Deputy is integral to turning the resistance to our side. The Deputy represents the soul of the resisting members of Hope County, to have her on our side will turn many more."

"And you think she be better in John's care rather than a fully moulded soldier? Or one of Faith's Angels?" Jacob argued.

"Yes." Joseph wrote something down on his notepad. "She will stay in the ranch with John. I'm sure he can sway her better than you or Faith can."

John looked pleased as he pulled out some cups out of the cupboard. "Thank you for such confidence Father. I will endeavour to bring Carla to our side."de."


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

-Carla-

Her leg was numb with pain through the makeshift bandage that was applying pressure to the wound. After she uttered that word ' _yes'_ he had ripped off a portion of his shirt and wrapped the wound.

He had picked her up, splashed the wound with ethanol and then applied the bandage, her screams were silenced with a rag stuffed into her mouth. She now walked with a limp because of the ever-present bullet in her leg.

John had released her restraints before her left so that she was free to stretch her arms out. Carla's body limped over to the wardrobe, it was odd to open it and see inside was clothes that were far too big for her. She raised an eyebrow… She was in John's bedroom. Her eyes widened. He was in the place he slept, he showered, where he… had certain relations with people.

She realised quickly that she was in the centre of her nemesis's private place. The place he let his guard down and showed his true self. With that thought in mind, her detective curiosity began to spin in her head as she searched the drawers.

She stopped when she opened the top drawer of John's drawers. There sat a teal shaded shirt with weird blotches all over it. A _truly_ fashionable sweater that was used to wrap something. A picture frame sat inside, on that picture was a family. Not a cult… A family. In the picture, stood two boys, a few years between them. A father stood behind the boys, and a mother sat with a small boy on her lap. The family looked so happy.

The father had a clear resemblance to Joseph and Jacob, although it was the mother that caught Carla's eyes. She had dark brown hair and green eyes. Her heart shaped face was quite beautiful.

The young boy had light brown hair and beautiful baby blue eyes. She didn't need to guess who the boy was. But as she looked closer she noticed the small bruises on the small boy and his mother. Jacob had large burn marks on his lower arms and Joseph had small scars on his wrists.

She opened the picture frame up and written on the back was "Seed Family," two names were crossed out, "Seed, with sons Jacob, Joseph and John." On the Picture was a folded piece of parchment in the shape of a square. Inside was the flowery writing of a woman.

"John my dear John… Please take this, know that I love you… More than I love anyone" Some words are scratched out to be unrecognisable. "Please don't forget to study hard in Law school and come back home when you can." Her name is scratched out.

"My mother…" John suddenly said, he was leaning at the door watching her read the letter. Carla suddenly dropped the letter back into the drawer, like a cat being caught with a mouse. "She was quite cruel in the end." John continued, not commenting at all on the girl going through his things. "She used to watch as my father whipped me."

Carla backed away from him, noticing his tone shift. "What was her name?" Trying to change the subject.

John watched her move around the room and he brought in a tea set. "Would you like some tea? I heard it can be quite soothing." He pressed the warm cup into her hands. "I promise it will make things better."

Carla distrusted John. "Why do you want me to drink it so badly?"

John smirked. "Can't I be rewarding for good behaviour? Since saying 'yes', you been becoming a good little Deputy…" He then looked down. "Oh, except going through my possessions. But I can look past that." He smiled.

She takes a sip. "I didn't know that you were… I mean…" She sits down on the couch, instinctively trying to make herself smaller.

"Happy?" He interjects, his face suddenly going cold like steel.

She couldn't help it. A quiet "…yes." Slipped out of her despite herself.

* * *

-John-

As he let the bliss take over he led her to sit down back on the bed. He sat himself so close that he could feel her breath on his face. The honey tea mixed with the white bliss flower was on her breath. His eyes were totally focused on the girl in front of him. He hated that she was so damn pretty, his father once said that, 'A pretty face could be a man's weakness. Don't let it be what makes you less of a man.' Like knee length skirts, his father was quite old fashioned.

Carla, the deputy, the scar of Lust carved into his skin began to beat. Incredibly, the word itself began to overrule his thoughts.

"…yes." He heard her say. It was quiet, almost meaningless, but what he wanted her to say.

'Yes' wasn't a word to John. It was an idea, a concept grafted into his subconscious by the brutal nature of his father.

Not THE Father, his biological father the one he shares with Jacob and Joseph. The man who he cannot remember the face of despite having his picture in his drawer. Truthfully, he hadn't seen that picture in over ten years, after wrapping it up in a shirt he hates. he could remember every single detail of his mother's features. But he couldn't determine the scratched-out name of his father. Joseph knows, and but he said that John must remember it himself.

"John?" She called out to John, her laugher bubbly and sweet when John smiled what looked like sweetly down at her. His eyes were big and glassy.

"Oh Carla, I told you that I would do something we would both regret if you didn't stay on the bed."

He saw her eyes suddenly widened and she opened her mouth to scream. His hand covered her mouth. She began to struggle.

* * *

-Carla-

Her voice was long since hoarse, she felt her mouth open to scream when he covered her mouth.

"What are you going to do to me?" She said.

Carla knew that she wasn't the best psychoanalyst on the team, but she thought that she was a good judge of character in an everyday scenario. This wasn't an everyday scenario. Her eyes were glassy and she knew she couldn't focus very well. Past that, her fear level for the first time in a while began to spike. The warm feeling that stirred in her heart when she first drank the honey tasting tea. Her eyes began to drift slightly and little white stars began to fill her vision.

John wasn't a bad man, but she wouldn't need a long list of evidence to suggest otherwise. He was defined by his codes and morals. His list of sins could only be cleansed with holy water. The scars he had riddling his arms of his sins was only the beginning of this man's pain.

"Can I do something so cruel that you may hate me forever?" John said, his childlike smile appearing on his face. "Say yes and I'll reward you." His eyes turned cold as steel. "Say yes Carla."

But why did a single word matter so much to him?

Yes… He'd said. Yes. What did she remember about cults? First step was saying yes, wasn't it? Saying yes to something simple... Non-conditional. But, this wasn't what their cult was, it wasn't blending into society, trying to psychologically twist their potential member's views. This cult wasn't _nicely_ trying to gain new members. This cult had made its own state in Montana USA. They had taken over the county and cut off our communications with the outside world.

She didn't think he could steep any lower than what he had already done. Kidnapping her, shaming her and shooting her. She didn't want to risk his wrath either. "Yes." She said, feeling more and more unlike herself.

"Stand and close your eyes." He encouraged, his smile getting bigger.

She obeyed immediately, sort of excited at the same as being scared. She felt fabric cover her eyes and her wrists were in John's hands.

He led her through what felt like the whole house, her eyes still closed. The room felt colder. "I didn't tell you your sin Carla, we all have them. Mine are just… Well, skin deep." He chuckled.

The room they entered felt cold. She felt her skin shivering to the bone. The room was very cold.

She breathed in. She really wished she hadn't, the room smelled stale and musty. She sneezed.

"Carla," John let her hands go. "Remove the blindfold. I want you to see this."

She took of the blindfold, she was met with the dim light of what looked like a cold storage room. She noticed the boring teal-white coloured tiles were speckled with brown dots… As her eyes adjusted to the light, her eyes saw the small brown pools on the tiled floor. She looked up to John and noticed the most sinful sadistic smirk was written across his features. Her eyes soon were not on him.

Behind him, stuck on the plaster wall, was pieces of skin with a sin written on each. All the sins were there: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth.

"John…" She breathed in. Her throat beginning to grow a swollen felling from the need to vomit. She breathed in, out, in and out. Trying to calm herself out of going into shock. She normally could cope with the violent nature of police work. But her drug addled-self had followed the first instincts when seeing something so vile. "Were these on _people_?!" She let tears fall down her face. "You… Where are these people now?"

"They are the people who make up our ranks now." John smiled. "They said yes of their own accord, Carla."

She began to struggle to breathe… "My sin… You said… My sin…" She coughed, the disgusting old blood smell filling her nose. "Are you… Are you going to do this to me?" She began to shake… Her eyes began to fill with tears. "I'm going to die here… You're going to kill me."

"Or you'll kill me." John replied.

"Is that an option?" She asked more herself than John.

"I guess anything is possible now. Killing me won't stop the Great Collapse, Carla." John walked over to her, his arms caging her as he rubbed her shoulders in comfort.

John led her back the room, her head began to spin and her eyes drifted into the darkness. John caught her as she fell. John carried her body upstairs and placed her on the bed.

He walked over to the small wooden box he kept in his cupboard.

He pulled out his tattoo gun. His smile was truly sadistic as he looked at the woman on his bed.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

-John-

Carla was, let's just say, rather like a caged animal. She was tempted easily by the unlocked window overlooking an escape through the valley or any sharp object in the room. Fortunately, she was quite scared of John now so whenever she felt his eyes on her, she quickly hid whatever desire she had of betraying him.

John picked up his coat and reached into his cupboard. His eyes landing on the long coat he used to wear in his lawyer days. It felt so long ago since he was a desk worker sifting through court case after case reading witness statements and legal jargon.

His hand ran through the soft suit material. His eyes landed on the dark leather coat that he had bought when he bought his first motorbike. He was sixteen back then, with the scruffiness of youth. He didn't know, but the day he bought that motorbike was the day his father left his family. He guessed that his younger self would be about her size, other than this, he wouldn't imagine he'll keep it as any more than a keepsake.

"Here, Carla." He threw her the jacket and she caught it easily. "We're going out."

"Will this 'going out' involve hurting innocent civilians and maiming my friends? Or is it a happy adventure full of cult hugs and lots of little old women kissing my cheeks?" Carla questioned, her jovial tone was masked by the serious look in her eyes. She knew that either could be a possibility.

"We're going to Josephs compound." John said and walked to the door, holding it open for her. "And depending on how you behave will depend on how many innocents and friends I choose to maim." He winked at her.

Her eyes widened, she was here because of that damn place. Josephs compound was where the helicopter fell and she became prey for the hunting predator that the cult was. It was in its nature to swallow Hope County as it had, a cult is a monster to such a small community.

She stubbornly crossed her arms. "I hope you're joking." She scowled at him, "I hope you don't expect me to go back to that place again!" She screwed up her face in anger her palms forming into fists.

"I am leaving you with Joseph whilst I go out for the day. You're to stay with the Father until I return for you." John said as he escorted her through the ranch and out to the car. "I don't want to find out that the temper of yours has caused you to do something that will cause me to do something I will regret."

They sat in silence for most of the car drive.

"You're worried that Joseph will kill you. That he'll do something indescribable to you." John read her thoughts. He sighed. "Joseph will not hurt you. He only wants to make sure your safe."

"What does it matter if I am safe or not? You're telling me to be patient and wait around with the man who captured all my friends and taken what makes them who they are, don't you think I know what has happened to my colleagues… What _your_ family did to them?!" She referred to Deputy Hudson, Marshal Burke and Deputy Pratt of course, her eyes were accusatory in nature, but she had not looked at him with so much condemnation since they had first started this unusual relationship of theirs.

John knew that there would always be that underlying tension between them. He was aware that regardless of his emotions for the young Deputy, he wouldn't act on them. Not only were his hands dirty with the blood of her friends, but their relationship was not untainted.

"You ask me why my family did what it did…" John started, his eyes on the road. His eyes glanced up to the 'YES' word that sat on the hillside overlooking hope county like its Los Angeles counterpart. "We did it because regardless of their faults, we'll save them from death. We know that this will happen."

"How could you know?" Carla understandably asked.

"You ask me this, when you cannot simply see what the world is." John sighed, "This world, it stands on the edge of a cliff. Politically, all it would take is the wind to blow a bit to hard and…" John paused and looked at Carla. "When the world falls apart, when the nations of the world launch their weapons of destruction… We'll be here, surviving when the rest will burn in the collapse. Do you think we would leave the unbelievers behind when we know that regardless of their sins, they could be saved?"

"You take people from their homes! You maim them! You scar their flesh and then have them line your Militia to capture more!" She argued. "You aren't saving them! Survival may be your goal but surviving isn't living!"

"And what would you have us do? Knowingly let them die knowing that we could save them?" John asked, rather frankly in response.

John realised that the silence that followed, was not because the road suddenly became interesting to Carla, it was because she was speechless in response. He smiled at that, although that smile did not reach his eyes.

* * *

-Carla-

John thought himself always right and absolute, but Carla knew that wasn't the case. She could list out the sins of John, but she isn't sure that the bible even listed all those sins. What could have led him so astray?

Joseph. Joseph Seed. The Father. She didn't have anything to do with Joseph until she began to investigate him. John was a bruised and battered man all his life, but Joseph was a man who began to break shortly after his wife's and daughter's deaths.

The man who caused her to be twisted into John's life again. She didn't hate him, but the past behaviours of the man led her to be weary of him.

They arrived at the compound, driving into the small village, John nodded to the guards and they nodded in return. Of course, they knew John's face. He was the poster boy for the cult's baptisms.

He smiled and waved like royalty. Carla supposed that to the cult's followers, the Heralds were royalty. To imagine that one family is responsible for all the hardships faced by her and the other revolutionists was truly impossible until she saw the blind devotion on their faces.

She knew then, that blood of innocents would be spilled. No number of tears would stop honest, blind sighted people into rebelling against the cult. Project of Eden's Gate, the peggies, were simply too great of a force. These people, she realised did not choose to become part of the cult. Joining just seemed like a better option over death. For that, she couldn't blame them for their blind obedience. Although she blamed Joseph and his ilk who turned the Hope in Hope County into Misery.

She knew when they looked at her that she wasn't the saviour like those in the rebellion would have her believe, she wasn't a hero to their cause. She was the meaning behind her misery. 'Don't become a sinner like the _Deputy_ ', 'If you sin you will follow the Deputy through Lucifer's doors' the guards in John's ranch whispered through the walls at night. It seemed, at least to Carla, that these people didn't revere her like the Hope County rebellion. She was the story of the Boogieman made real.

She heard the whispers get louder as she was escorted through the compound like a gilded treasure. Her eyes, forest green, harboured no hate for these people who served Joseph, but they _hated_ her.

John led her to the chapel. He opened the door. "I will return in a moment, then you will enter the church. Please try not to attempt to run away, this compound is designed to keep people _in_ , I don't see you jumping the razor wire and making a getaway in the cult trucks… So be a good little Deputy and wait here." He opened the door and stepped inside. "Don't disobey me, Deputy, the cost is greater than you could imagine." He closed the wooden chapel doors behind him.

John left her alone. She stood, outside the very church that haunted her nightmares. She sat down on the wooden bench outside, waiting for John to emerge.

A young girl ran over to the Deputy, her golden locks shimmering in the sunny morning. Her bright blue eyes watched her for a short while before stepping closer. "Are you the Deputy?" She asked, her eyes were curious.

"Deputy Carla Mack… Although, not so much of a Deputy anymore." Carla found herself saying to the girl.

"You're still _the_ Deputy though?" The girl asked raising an eyebrow. "The Father calls you Lilith, the great snake."

"Yeah, something like that." Carla chuckled. "Why Lilith?" Carla asked.

"She was the snake that bore the fruit of sin to Eve and Adam." The girl said.

"What?" Carla asked, she then became worried. "Where are your parents?"

"They're here." The girl said before running into the Church.

"Wait… Don't go in there." But before she could stop the girl, she was inside.

Carla sat back down. If she ran in after some girl, she knew that John would be mad. So she sat and waited.

John eventually brought her inside. She saw the Father sitting down, sitting amongst the benches, his eyes on the book in front of him.

"Father, I have brought Carla Mack, or The Deputy to you." He led her towards the seat where the Father was. Stopping short a few feet. Carla could only make out the back of his head and where the knot in his head sat. His yellow-lensed glasses were sitting on the bridge of his nose.

"Take a seat… Miss Mack." Joseph said without looking up.

John pointedly looked to the seat and made a harsh gesture to sit. Once she sat down next to the Father, he took his leave. "Well, I have much to do. Sinners to baptise and rebels to kill." He smiled. "I'll see you later Carlie! Have fun!" He smiled and waved dramatically as he left.

In contrast, once the door to the church closed and the echo clapped throughout the hall, the room was silent as death. Joseph, in contrast to his younger brother, did not need to outsmart her with words or taint her view with a list of reasons why to believe him. No, Joseph was a listener, then a manipulator, then a king to his pawns.

Joseph did not talk for what felt like hours. His eyes did not leave the worn pages of his bible in front of him.

As soon as Carla thought about saying something Joseph closed the book with a soft clap. "You don't hate me. Not really. John believes that your sin is wrath." He took a deep breath in and turned to her. She didn't even realise how hallowing those eyes behind the yellow glasses were. "I know that you are not wrathful." He placed his hand on hers. "You want me dead though." He frowned at that. "It's understandable, I captured your friends and I hold you captive too."

"Your family tortures them." She said finally. "How could I not want you dead if they were to be free as a result?"

"You are not beyond the shores of redemption, if you agree to some terms your friends will be released." Joseph said. "Today is Sunday, soon I will host my sermon. John assures me that the whole resistance will see it on television." Joseph looked back to the American flag that acted as a tapestry at the front of the hall. The state stars were the Cult's crosses.

Carla couldn't help but laugh that out of all the crimes Joseph had committed, desecration of a flag was surprising to her. All mirth fell from her when she heard what Joseph said next.

"You will make an appearance, and you will tell the resistance that you have surrendered." Joseph's eyes locked with hers, she now knew why John had brought her here.

She was the symbol of the resistance in Hope County, and if she fell, then the resistance will follow her. She didn't want to make the last of Hope County throw themselves in with the Cult, but she knew that not only her life was on the line. "And what if I refuse?"

"My family holds each of your friend's captive. I hold the Valley captive… And most importantly, I currently hold you captive. It would be unwise to refuse my will." Joseph said, his voice was solemn and honest. "God wishes each of them to survive the collapse, but if a few have to die so that the rest will be saved…" Joseph smiled, his teeth were white and polished, almost sinfully white. "I will take that chance."

Carla didn't act. She just nodded. Her hand folded in her lap. "Is your god pleased with your methods?" She dared to ask.

"Our God Dear one." Joseph smirked beneath the yellow frames. "Our God will reward me for my methods… And when time comes to pass, our seeds shall grow into a glorious harvest… And then we shall reap the rewards."


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

-Carla-

Joseph didn't ask for something lightly, his will was law within the cult camp. They prepared for quite a sermon as it seemed the whole camp filled the church. Carla's guess was that on the broadcast, they wanted to seem as innumerable as possible. The resistance in the Valley had watched the religious broadcasts to get updates on the situation, Joseph made sure that the resistance knew how many pieces he held.

They were in the back room, behind a curtain, watching the townspeople arrive through a slit in the curtains. The other room was filled with people quietly chattering but they didn't seem violent or mad. He was gathering the men and women, children… How many people were part of his 'family'?

She saw families, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters. Joseph's church was not filled with people who were bloodthirsty, they were people who feared what he warned of and hoped for what he preached.

Finally, her eyes landed on the cameraman sporting camcorder that rested on his shoulder. Her friends would see her drop before the cult. She sighed, it was time they saw her for what she was, a scared little girl facing a big scary cult. She was just one woman.

To further the shame she felt, Joseph produced a pair of shiny metal cuffs, and like when this all began, she put her hands out before her, just as he did. She was to kneel before Joseph. 'How egotistic of him' Carla thought.

"John believes that this will make you realise your sins. Public confessions were… Useful to our cause at one stage. And yours will only strengthen the word of God." He clasped the metal cuffs around her wrists. He smiled at her, but not out of happiness, pride or anything so selfish. No, she could tell his smile was one of empathy. He didn't want to cause her further pain, it was only that to further his reach he had to publicly shame a young girl. Her shame would be greater than the sinners before her. She was the sword in the dark against the cult. "God spoke to me and told me that your confession was vital to the sheep below us. You and I have more to play than those who follow us. They require us to be the bleed and show no pain… God demands the most from his messengers." Joseph pulled on the cuffs making sure they were secure. He gently held her hands in his own, she was tempted to pull away from him, but his eyes caught hers and held them. "I wonder if you're ready to bleed for what you believe… For if you can't…" He chuckled. "Those sheep will swallow you like wolves." He smirked then, his blue eyes were serious. More than ever, she saw John in him. She didn't expect the great 'Father' to find something comical like the average man.

"I guess we'll have to find out." She stubbornly said, pulling her hands away from his in defiance.

* * *

-Joseph-

He knew that his brother harboured feelings for the girl, she was full of fire. Like his late wife, he could see the spirited nature within her. The Deputy… No, Carla Mack was like a fire that burned his children… He knew that sacrifices must be made so that God wanted him to save all that he can, he knew that better than anyone. And yet, God had chosen for this woman to fight his flock. Everyone had a purpose and hers was to challenge his faith to God.

She didn't look all that much, this Carla Mack. She didn't appear as a wrathful demoness that slew her men and liberated places for her cause. If he didn't want to give her more power within his group as a mythical figure, he would preach to his flock that she was the demoness that dragged you through Hell's Gate.

Although, in her eyes, he didn't see the hatred that his brother's spoke of, or the fear that Faith saw. No, he saw shame. Her greatest sin was her inability to help her friends more.

"Come, the world waits." He said, gesturing to his men to being her.

She barely struggled, he felt the girl was resided to her fate as the Project of Eden's Gate's bargaining tool. Her presence threw the resistance off, they may attack and rescue her, but he knew that he could get to her mind before she left the cult.

He separated and walked out through the curtains, his eyes rising to see the congregation before him. They all were silenced immediately by his presence. He understood it was in John's nature to indulge in the audience, but Joseph knew that true loyalty was not earned through applause, but in the silence they cause when they enter a room. He saw fear in his followers faces, but he also saw the blind devotion they had.

He walked as a God in the world of man and he caged the demon that hunted them. He smiled to his children. "Greetings Children. I am your father." He put his hands out palms facing them in a worship stance. "God, hear your sons and daughters. We have found the Deputy!" His flock began to cheer. He made sure to look at the camera every so often, he knew who was watching and he wanted them to listen.

He gestured behind him, and his men brought out the Deputy. Her eyes were full of fire but her body was defeated. She hated them, but she had submitted to them.

* * *

-Carla-

When she was pulled through those curtains, she'll never forget the fear and hate she saw in the faces in Joseph's followers. They _hated_ her. She never thought she could piss off a group of people so much.

"Now my brothers and sisters! The Deputy has come forth wishing to atone for the sins she has… Shall we baptise the demon and redeem her?" Joseph preached.

They hissed, they actually hissed at her! The crowd had begun to shout. "She doesn't deserve redemption!" One called out. "Her soul will never be free from the stain of sin!" Another yelled out. "She's just a sinner, what does she know of salvation! I say, kill her with the rest of them!" A particularly violent follower screeched.

She didn't look up much after that, the fear of seeing either devotion in their eyes at Joseph or the burning hatred for her led her to think that looking up wasn't a good idea. Joseph, didn't seem blinded by what she had done, he merely continued with the sermon.

Joseph raised his hands and the crowd was silenced. "'He redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.', is she not worthy of the same redemption that God gave to each of you?" He rested his hand on her shoulder. "She shall be saved, this is the word of Joseph."

Joseph crouched down to her level, he ran his hand along the side of her face. Carla didn't pull away, she knew that if she spoke against Joseph here of all places, she would regret it. Although, she didn't think he touched each of his followers with such a gentle gesture.

He clicked his fingers and was brought a jug of water. "If you declare with your mouth and believe in your heart that the Creator is your God, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved."

She remembered last time she asked, 'what if I don't', and she still cannot wash the blood from her hands. The face young girl that John killed still haunted her dreams. Her eyes filled with fear and her mouth opening and closing as if saying 'why?'. She didn't want to know the outcome if she did the same with his big brother.

"Yes." She uttered, whispered in fear.

"What was that?" Joseph asked, even though they both knew he heard it. The man with the camera came closer, he gestured to have her speak louder. Carla understood then, it wasn't just her he wanted to convert. It was the whole valley. She _was_ the resistance, and she'd be damned if she gave up on that.

"No!" She shouted, turning to the camera. She kicked the jug from Joseph's hand.

Joseph's hand wasn't touched by the blow but she couldn't tell she shamed him though. 'Fuck him' she thought.

* * *

-Joseph-

She didn't surprise him. Not at all. In fact, she was just like Vivienne in every way. She had the same dark brown hair, the same green eyes and the same anger in those eyes. She was beautiful, he could see why John had fallen for her so much.

But, she had still disobeyed him. "If the great Deputy does not submit to me, perhaps she needs encouragement." He sneered. "Bring the girl." He gestured to his followers.

Two of his followers brought in a dark-skinned woman, her black brown hair was tangled and covering her face. When she struggled against the followers she swore and kicked. "Fuck off! If you don't let go of me I'll skin you alive!" She screeched.

Joseph watched as all defiance fell from Carla's face at the sight of her friend. He knew she needed a little nudge.

"…Grace?" Carla asked, her eyes widening in fear. "What are you doing here?"

Joseph answered for her. "She was caught trying to sneak into John's ranch."

"Yeah, I guess I couldn't leave you with them." Grace grumbled, she looked ready to throw punches.

"I told you to stay with the others." Carla argued.

"Yeah, well… Tough." Grace smirked. "Couldn't leave you to the Peggies."

"Enough." Joseph commanded. He turned to Carla. "I have your friends, I have your home, I have the county. Do you still wish to say no to redemption just as your friends have? After you have seen what 'no' has caused do you wish to take that path?" He walked over to Grace and grabbed her by the hair yanking her head up to face his. "Do you wish to see her dead like the others you have killed by refusing us?"

A tear ran down the side of Carla's face. Joseph knew that she didn't want her friends to be hurt, her weakness was the dependence she has on others. Where he was dependant on his family, Carla was dependant on the people of Hope County.

* * *

-Carla-

Carla wiped her face with her cuffed hands. She bowed her head, she knew that every part of this was being seen by the resistance, but she would not submit to Joseph. To do that, would be betraying the honest people of Hope County for her own sake. She would never be so selfish. With a heavy heart she said through tears running down her face. "I only have one thing to say to you." She gritted her teeth and prepared herself.

"And what is that?" Joseph said.

"Fuck you and Fuck your 'Word', Joseph!" She spat out.

"So be it." Joseph turned to his followers. They had stayed rather silent throughout, she supposed this was the most entertaining sermon ever. Although, what Joseph said next made Carla's stomach drop. "Kill Grace. Take the Deputy away."

"No!" Carla screamed. She tried to free herself but was forced down to her knees by Joseph's followers and they dragged her away as she screamed and managed to break free, but she tripped and fell to the ground.

John walked through the church doors and pulled out his revolver. "I hope hell welcomes you Armstrong." He said, although the normal cheeriness was gone.

"I'll be waiting for you there, Seed." She spat out and looked at Carla. "Goodbye Carla." She smiled in the end. "Don't be too sad, I'll be joining my father."

Grace just bowed her head and the last thing Carla saw before she was dragged through the curtains was John placing a barrel against Grace's head.

Behind the curtains, a shot was fired.

Carla let out a cry as one of the cultists injected her with something. She went out cold.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

-Carla-

Her eyes opened to a cold, dark room, a single red light hanged down bathing the room in a bloody glow. After blinking a few more times she had noticed someone was sitting in a chair opposite her. She went to rub her eyes but her wrists were strapped against a desk chair. She sighed, this wasn't a new experience after her last few days with the cult. She had spent most of it tied up or strapped to something whilst John went about his day.

After adjusting her eyes, she recognised the bruised and battered person sitting opposite her. "…Hudson?" Carla asked, shocked at seeing her friend so frail.

Hudson's head raised to see Carla, she barely seemed to recognise her. Her mouth was duck taped and under her eyes were bruised with lethargy. She was broken, her eyes barely had enough energy to look at Carla. She didn't fight, she just sat there, staring blankly into space. Her body was malnourished and her hair was frizzy. Hudson looked like a corpse barely hanging onto life.

Carla was caught off guard by the cheery whistling, it seemed so odd in a place so depressing that someone was pleased about something. Although, when she saw said whistler she understood the cheery tune.

John carried in a tool box while he seemed to dance to his own tune. His happy tune continued as almost methodically placed the tool box on the workbench and began laying his tools out.

He turned to Carla, a smile stretched across his face. "You know, Gracie didn't struggle. You should be proud to have such a loyal dog." He chuckled. "After that stunt you pulled, I'm surprised you weren't killed on the spot… After all, you were incredibly rude to the Father."

Carla gritted her teeth but remained silent. The image of John holding a gun to Grace's head had been burned into her brain. Grace wasn't one for words. If Grace spoke it was gruff and short. Even though she hated to admit it, John was right. She was as loyal as a hound. After Carla helped her defend her father's grave, she was at her back from then on.

"You know… My parents were the first people to make me understand the true power of yes." John turned to the wooden backing of the bench, and stapled a leathery piece of human skin to the wood. "One night, they took me into the kitchen… and they threw me on the ground and I experienced pain after pain after pain. And when I couldn't take anymore… I did." He shook his head despite himself.

"Then break the cycle… You should learn from their mistakes…" Carla tried to his better half. "If you repeat their mistakes… Your no better than them."

Hudson whimpered through the tape. Apparently appealing to John's better nature only made him more certain about his actions.

He threw down the stapler, causing both Carla and Hudson to jump in their seats. "Something broke free inside… I wasn't scared, I was… Clear. I looked up at them and started to laugh. All I could say was yes. I looked for more to say yes to." He walked in circles. "I opened every hole in my body and when those were filled… I created more."

He walked over to Carla and caressed her face, just as Joseph had. "I'm going to do the same to you. I'm going to show you your sin." He laughed. "It was Joseph who showed me how selfish I was… Always receiving always taking. The best gift you get isn't the one you get... It's the one you give and giving takes courage." He picked up a sponge soaked in what smelled like an antiseptic solution.

"John… Please…" Carla pleaded, pulling on the restraints and trying to cower in the chair. "I know you can be better than this…"

He unbuttoned the shirt she wore as she squirmed away from his touch. He began to wash her chest. "The courage to own your sin, to etch it onto your flesh and carry its burden… And when you have endured when you have truly begun to atone… To cut it out and display it for all to see." His hands lingered on her chest. "My god that's courage. I'm going to teach you courage… Im going to teach you how to say yes, so you can confront your weaknesses. Confront your sins." He stood back up and leant against the workbench. "You will swim across an ocean of pain and be free. For only then can you truly begin to atone." He smirked, and then he looked at both Hudson and Carla. "So who wants to go first, hm?" He asked. "Which one, hm? This is lesson number one."

It sounded so simple. Say yes and he would end this madness… He would absolve you of sin. Carla knew that if she didn't agree, she would only get more people hurt. Saying no to the cult had hurt her friends, killed her best friend and left her more bruised and battered than a training day in police academy.

"Someone's got to choose." He yelled, bringing Carla's attention back to him.

"Yes." She whispered.

"You won't regret this, I promise." John was like a kid in a candy store. "Now, before we begin, I think that its only proper that Deputy Hudson goes back to her room. Confessions are supposed to be private after all…" He started to wheel Hudson away before stopping just in front of Carla. He touched her face and she let him. "Shhhh I am not here to take your life, I'm here to give it to you. I'm going to open you, and pour your worst fears inside, and as you choke, your sins will reveal themselves. Only then will you truly understand the power of yes." He pulled his hand away and a sadistic smile crept across his face. "I'll be right back." He winked at her.

As soon as John left Carla pulled at her restraints and the chair she was sitting in fell on the ground. She broke free from the tight ropes and untied her legs. She ran through the Bunker.

"Confession is the admission of one's sins. Our souls… Need to confess. By looking deep within our ourselves by exposing the darkness inside us. We free our souls from the burden of their sin." She heard John say through some sort of intercom. "That's what I'm offering. So, I will save you deputy, I will help you lift that burden. I will help you confess, and I will pass no judgement on you." She heard him smirk through the rough speakers. "No matter how messy it gets. All you have to say is yes. Things could be worse, here, you just have to confess. In the east… Well let's just say too much bliss can go to one's head. Faith created her angels, but she didn't treat them all that well." Carla grabbed a piece of lead pipe and cracked it over a peggies head. She grabbed his gun and was going to sneak through when a cultist spotted her he yelled out and soon there was an alarm sounding throughout the bunker.

After killing so many faces and trying to not think of them as people. She made it to a Bunker door and on the other side was John with Hudson.

"I know your sin… It drives you. Every thought, every action. Your sin is wrath… so ill indulge you, become wrath. Let it fill your body, consume your soul… Because in the end you'll still be empty, and I'll be waiting right here… We both will." His breath fogged up the glass that separated them.

"No John Please! I'll give you anything, please just let her go." Carla screamed, but as she watched John he held up a controller. He pressed a button and with a sinful smile.

"This is what happens when your sin takes control. It takes and takes and takes, until your empty and without home, family or love!" He smirked. "You'll die, and I cannot help you, unless you help yourself."

"Give em' all the wrath brothers! In the name of the father! Your sin consumes you. Blinds you to all harm your efforts are. Blinds you to all the harm you inflict. It allows you to dispense human life so easily. Have you given so much of second thought to killing at all?"

Carla tried not to cry as she shot the remaining peggies. More arrived and she ran down the hill, tripping and falling down half way. She was scared, so scared that she was becoming like John as he whispered her fears through the steel intercom.

"Drive the sinner from this place! For no matter where they are, God will find them. SEE, that is the power of yes. Leave this place gorge yourself on wrath. Because if stay here, I will bleed your little princess like a stuffed pig!" The voice of John echoed throughout the valley as Carla ran out of the bunker. She tipped and began to roll down the length of the hill.

She rolled down the hill. Her body ached with bruising and endless pain as finally came to a halt, her head colliding with a rock. She got up and wrapped a piece of torn shirt fabric around her head. "To what do I owe this debt?" She screamed out. "I put my faith in you and you deserted me." She looked to the sky, expecting to hear a response.

She wasn't surprised when no one answered.

* * *

-John-

He had to catch himself before he hunted after her like a hound to prey. She was so full of fire and rage. He watched as she ran down the hill. He pulled out a gun and aimed it at one of the peggies. He held his hands up, his eyes full of fear.

"You let her get away!" John yelled through gritted teeth. He lowered his gun to the man's pride. "You have three seconds before I shoot off your-" he smirked at the man's pants, "small cock."

"No, John! Please!" The man screamed. His pants began to soak with urine as he wet himself in fear. "Sh-she managed to slip through our fingers! But we can catch-" The shotgun in John's hands fired and the man fell to the ground dead.

"That's three." John tsked.

"You know, killing those who follow you will not bring the girl back." He heard a familiar tone. "I hope you don't intend to kill the whole of your flock before she returns." His hands came to rest on John's shoulders.

"Father… I had hoped that you would be safe in your compound… Far away from my sins." John said, he didn't want the father to see him so beaten.

"She is not yours to deal with anymore, John. Your selfishness and desire has made you lose sight! You've already lost half of Fall's end." He grabbed John's chin, forcing him to look at him.

"No! You promised me that she would be mine alone!" John demanded from his brother.

Joseph wiped the blood from John's head, neither was sure if it was John's blood or not. "Your brother has the facilities for a fighter like her. I am placing Jacob in charge for her capture. She will be brought to me, and then she will be baptised… By me."

"You told me that you would not interfere!" John's eyes were filled with betrayal as he sank to his knees before his brother. "Please… Just give me one last chance."

"And you told me that you could look after her, but you are too weak." Joseph shrugged off his brother as he walked over to the edge of the bunker. He sighed, he knew that John would not stop until Carla or he was dead. "She will regroup and likely come back for the Deputy Hudson." Joseph turned back to his brother. John's head was bowed in forgiveness or worship, he didn't know, but seeing his brother so defeated had awakened a carnal need to hurt and kill that which brought him to his knees. "I give you one. Last. Chance." The Father emphasised each word like a threat. "If you do not bring her to heel, I will kill you both."

John's eyes snapped open. His brother had never threatened his life before. It was the first time his brother had addressed him as such. It didn't scare him though, it only made him more determined to find and bring Carla to kneel before him.

* * *

-Carla-

She had made it to the road and she saw the remains of a revolution with every Peggie in sight was lying dead next to their trucks. She weaved through the carnage to find transport, a gun, anything really. Her eyes settled on the assault rifle lying in the hands of a deceased Peggie. She pulled on the weapon but the dead hands clutched the weapon tight. She struggled, finally the dead seized muscles gave way and the rifle was pulled out. She checked his pockets and she tried not to consider his dead eyes. She pulled out a couple of clips from his pockets, smiling to herself.

She heard a groan of a young Peggie as he got up slowly. Her eyes immediately jumped to the van's ignition, a set of keys were inside the car. She smiled.

"Miss Deputy…" A young Peggie called out. "I won't hurt you if you come quietly."

She took cover behind the front of the truck. She peaked out and saw the young boy whose eyes were trained on her. He was holding a gun shakily his hands, sweat ran down his brow. He was scared, he was innocent and looking into his eyes, this was his first taste of conflict and he had never killed before.

"And I don't want to go back to that hellhole." Carla yelled from behind the truck. "So turn around and go back where you came from, tell them that you didn't see me and they won't hurt you. You tell them that you saw me they'll kill you." She pleaded with the boy. She didn't want to kill him but she didn't want to be the boy's first taste of blood.

"PUT YOUR WEAPON DOWN DEPUTY!" The boy screamed through tears, he shook with fear as he shot the trucks tire, trying to aim for her. She jumped out from behind the car and trained the rifle on the boy in front of her. "You will stay until they come for you."

"Kid, I will not kill you. I am not them! I will not kill a boy!" She let tears fall from her face as she dropped her weapon.

A scratchy voice through the radio inside the truck. "Move in! Move in! Deputy spotted!" A Peggie said through the radio. Carla saw trucks approaching from the distance. Closing in quickly, the boy looked up and saw the cult close in.

Carla felt that she had made many tough decisions. She was the negotiator of a school shooting once in Montana. Chris Reeves, a young and naïve kid had brought two semi-automatics into his high school. He had killed over thirty by the time she and the rest of the force had arrived. She remembered the day she shot him in the chest. He was about to open fire on her squad before she had made the snap decision. His eyes were crystal clear as tears ran down his face in pain. He died before the ambulance could arrive, although her fellow officers did not blame her for it, the media relished in every opportunity to drive the knife in.

She saw a lot of Chris in this boy. She knew that killing was hard, but it's something that becomes so easy the more each kill turns into a innumerable number. She didn't want to kill another boy because of her duty. "Please… Kid, I just want to go, once I'm gone, you can say that I just slipped away like always!" tears ran down her cheeks. "Please."

"Deputy, I can't let you go. They know I've seen you now, they'll kill me if I let you go!" He gripped the gun in his hands tighter.

"Then I'm sorry." She lifted the rifle and shot the boy in the chest.

Her heart was cracked when she saw the glassy eyes of the boy whose life she had taken. She immediately jumped into the truck and turned the ignition. She almost laughed in relief when the car rumbled to life.

She drove away towards the resistance. She drove quite far before she saw the Peggie's walk over to the boy. They had seen the resistance in him and after a moment of yelling between the members did she see one of them raise a gun to point at the boy's head. A single shot rang out throughout the valley as Carla gripped the wheel tighter.

She let the tears streak down her dirty face, like many of the lives she had seen end she added the boy's to the list of her defeats in the face of the cult.


End file.
